A short Chinese man is one of the biggest men in the world right now. He is Jack Ma (Ma Yun), the Chairman（董事局主席）of Alibaba Group. On Sept. 19,2014, Alibaba went public（上市）and raised $25 billion（十亿）. Ma, a former English teacher, has become the richest man in China.

    Born in 1964 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Ma grew up as a happy kid. When he was a teenager, he wanted to learn English. Every morning, he got up at 5a.m, rode his bike for 40 minutes to a hotel near the West Lake and talked with foreign tourists in English. He did it for nine years, rain or shine.

    The experience made him an excellent English speaker and also opened his eyes to the outside world. In 1994, Ma Yun heard about the Internet. And on a 1995 trip to the US, Ma was shown the Internet for the first time. He searched the word “beer” on Yahoo, and found that there was nothing there about China. Seeing the chance, Ma returned to China and set up a website called China Pages without even knowing much about computers.

    Four years later, Ma, his wife and his friends set up Alibaba in Hangzhou. He believed in the Internet business potential（潜力）when few other Chinese did, 15 years later, Alibaba has developed into the world's largest e-commerce company（电子商务公司），owning popular shopping websites like Taobao and Tmall.

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    On April 2, 1805, Hans Christian Andersen was born in a one-bedroom house in Odense, Denmark. His father was a shoemaker and his mother was a laundrywoman (洗衣女工). When he was 11, his father died. He had to leave school and began to work in a factory. When he was 17, he met a director. With the director's help, Andersen went back to school. He studied with children who were six years younger than him. He began writing at that time.

    Andersen's first book of fairy tales came out in 1835. The Princess on the Pea and The Tinderbox were included in it. His first book was a big success. From then on, he wrote almost a book every year. In his lifetime, he wrote about 168 fairy tales and his stories have been translated into about 150 languages. No matter how old we are, we are probably familiar with The Emperor's New Clothes, The little Match Girl and many other fairy tales of Andersen.

    Andersen always wanted to tell people not to judge (判断) people by their appearances. In 77ie Ugly Duckling, the character everyone makes fun of has inner (内在的) beauty.

    Andersen was also a gifted artist. He made thousands of paper cuttings of swans (天鹅), clowns and angels. These can be seen in the book The Amazing Paper Cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen.

    Because of his wonderful fairy tales, Andersen became known as the greatest writer in Denmark and one of the most beloved children's writers in the world. On April 2, people celebrate International Children's Book Day. That's because April 2 was Andersen's birthday.

    A frog was swimming in a pond after a rainstorm. He saw a brilliant rainbow across the sky. He was so excited that he couldn't help crying.

    "I have heard there is a cave filled with gold at the place where the rainbow ends. I will find the cave and be the richest frog in the world," said the frog.

    The frog swam to the edge of the pond as fast as he could. There he met another frog by accident.

    "Where are you rushing to?" asked the second frog.

    "I am rushing to the place where the rainbow ends," said the first frog.

    "There is a saying that there is a cave filled with gold and diamonds at that place," said the second frog.

    "Then come with me." said the first frog. "We will be the two richest frogs in the world."

    The two frogs jumped out of the pond and ran through the grassland. There they met another frog.

    "What's the hurry?" asked the third frog.

    "We are running to the place where the rainbow ends," said the two frogs.

    "I have been told there is a cave filled with gold, diamonds and pearls at that place," said the third frog.

    "Then come with us," said the two frogs. "We will be the three richest frogs in the world."

    The three frogs ran for miles. Finally they came to the end of the rainbow.

    There they saw a dark cave on the side of a hill.

    "Gold! Diamonds! Pearls!" cried the frogs. As they jumped into the cave, they found a snake lived inside.

    He was hungry and had been thinking about his dinner. He swallowed the three frogs quickly.

    Once upon a time, there lived an old man. He had three sons. One day, he called them together and said, "Sons, I will die soon. To my eldest son give half my camels, to my second, one third(三分之ー), and to my youngest, one ninth(九分之一)." Soon after that he died.

    The old man had seventeen camels, and the three brothers didn't know how to do as their father said. They thought for a long time about the problem, and it seemed that they must either kill some of the camels and cut them into pieces, or disobey their father. At last, they went to their father's old friend and asked for his advice. As soon as he heard their story, he said. "I will help you. I was a good friend of your fathers. I am old. I have only one camel, but take it. It is yours."

    The three sons thanked the old man and took his camel. Now they found it was easy to do as their father wished. The eldest took half—that was nine camels; the second took one third—that was six; and the youngest took one ninth—that was two.

    After each had got his camels, they found that there was still a camel there. To show their thanks to their father's friend, they gave the camel back to him.

    Mr Hunt came from a poor family. He had three brothers and two sisters. His father worked hard but wasn't paid much. And his mother did all the housework at home. They were both able but they couldn't get enough money for their family.

    Mr Hunt was at school for only three years and he had to stop to help his parents though he was good at his lessons. When he was sixteen, he came to the city and began to work in a small factory. He learned from an old worker and became a skilled worker. The old worker liked him and married his daughter to him. The young man did not have his own house and had to live with his parents-in-law. His mother-in-law always thought he was poor and often chattered(喋喋不休).So the young man tried to save everything and hoped to have his own house.

    It was one fine Sunday. The old woman wanted to have a picnic on top of the hill. She told Mr Hunt to drive her car. But sometimes she told him to turn left and sometimes to turn right. The young man had to listen to her. At a crossing, the lights were red but she made him turn left. The policeman stopped them and told the young man to give his license to him.

    "If I did wrong, sir," said Mr Hunt, "it was my mother-in-law's fault. She was driving the car though she sat behind me!"

    Wonder what it is like to be a chef(厨师)? This weekend you will have your chance to find out. Two local chefs, Monica Sallier and Andrew Gleason, will hold an "open kitchen" at their restaurants this Saturday.

    Monica's restaurant, The Blue Hen, is small but comfortable. Wooden tables and chairs cover the dining area, and sweet music is always on. "I like to laugh and always tell jokes while I cook," Monica said. "Cooking brings people together. The cooks who work with me have become my best friends."

    At Monica's "open kitchen", she plans to teach her guests how to prepare country­style fried chicken. For it, she will use her family's secret spice(香料). She learned how to make it from her father. Monica seldom uses a measuring cup(量杯)when cooking. By doing so, she hopes to offer her guests a special dining experience. "If you come to my restaurant, you'll never get the same dish twice, "she said.

    Also opening his kitchen this Saturday in Shreveport is Andrew Gleason. He is the head chef at Quarter Bistro. "I am not the most talkative chef in the business," Andrew said. "Mostly because I prefer to give my full attention to the food. Every ingredient(食材)must be carefully measured. "

    Andrew's food also makes the dining experience special. He makes every dish look like a piece of art. At his "open kitchen", Andrew plans to teach his visitors how to prepare blackened catfish, a dish of his that has won much praise throughout the city.